Vexx
Vexx is the main protagonist of the game of the same name, the only playable character, and grandson to Overwood's guardian Vargas. Personality Witnessing the death of his grandfather under the hands of Dark Yabu, rage and grief has turned Vexx very violent and bad tempered. A noticable trait about him is that he is extremely determined, going as far as sneaking past Yabu's guards in order to get a chance to deal with the monster himself, clearly underestimating Yabu's capabilities. Vexx doesn't speak, only making occasional grunts when he fights or gets hurt, and during cutscenes he's only heard yelling, although he can be heard yelling what appears to be "no" when when Vargas is murdered by Yabu. Appearance Vexx's status as a guardian is made evident by the armour he wears on his knees, and the white wristbands he wears under his Talons. Like all Valdani, Vexx is a small wolflike creature with pointed ears and sharp lower canine teeth. He also has black facial hair growing on his cheeks. He has very bright eyes which seem to glow in the dark. His age is debatable and cannot be specified, though it's believed he's no younger than his early teens judging by his rather deep voice. He's also referred to as a kid in the manual, and it even mentioned his "childhood is destroyed". He's been called "boy" by Yabu, a term usually given to young people. Abilities Prior to receiving the Talons , Vexx was trained (presumably by his grandfather) to guard Overwood, so it shouldn't be surprising how he learned to use his Talons so quickly. Also before bearing the Talons, Vexx has proven to be quite acrobatic. In the first cutscene, he's seen to do a flip and land on the ground without any signs of injury. When he bore the Talons, his abilities increased greatly in both terms of agility and combat. He can jump high and far, swim quickly, climb specially marked walls, and outmatch enemies several times his size with ease, from Yabu's formidable guards to the professional sumo wrestler Sumo Kin. Another handy feature is his ability to use two useful Suits once he unlocks them. The Rock Suit makes him invincible and run faster, while the Air Suit allows him to glide over long distances. Biography Vexx lived a hard, but peaceful life at the village of Overwood with Vargas, his grandfather and only family. When the Shadowraith Dark Yabu invaded, he was shackled and turned a slave along with his grandfather and all the others who lived in the village, forced to toil in the mines in search of Wraithhearts. One day, at the brink of his patience, Vexx was brutally whipped on his back when trying to aid his grandfather after he had collapsed. The boy retaliated against the offense, lashing upon the Shadowminion, but before he could hit it with his pickaxe, Yabu himself stopped him with his shadowy powers. When the wraith was just about to kill Vexx, he let go of the boy when his grandfather attacked, and in his place, Yabu destroyed Vargas instead. Stricken by sorrow and vowing revenge, Vexx escaped after nightfall from the caves, and stole onto Yabu's Windship, looking for something that could help him kill the wraith. There, by coincidence, he found the Astani War Talons embedded in a rock along with the skeleton of its previous owner. Marveled by the artifacts, Vexx approached, waking the weapons which bound themselves painfully to him until the day of his death. The process caused a massive gathering of energy, making an explosion that not only blew the ship to smithereens, but also injured Vexx and knocked him out. While out cold, Vexx learned that his grandfather's spirit had been captured by Yabu's amulet and that the ShadoWraith was feeding on his pain and fear until Vargas no longer existed. He also learned how to harness the power of the War Talons before he regained consciousness with the purpose of exacting his revenge against his grandfather's killer. When he awoke, Vexx was greeted by an old man named Darby in what seemed to be a tomb. There, the old man told the warrior that Yabu destroyed Overwood and its villagers, leaving only the two of them behind. It was then that he told the Valdar could stop the Wraith if he collected enough WraithHearts to activate the Landspire, the sealed temple that brought the Shadowraiths to Astara 700 years prior. Guided by Darby, Vexx traveled through the scattered lands of Astara, collecting WraithHearts and slaying many of Yabu's minions. When he collected 26 hearts, the power was enough to reactivate the elevator that led to the main chamber of the Rift System. Once there, Vexx and Darby encountered Reia, the last of the Astani and Guardian of the Landspire. Seeing the two, the woman fired at them with the Keystaff, the warrior was thrown aside by the blast's gust of energy, and Darby was hit. However, the old man revealed to be Dark Yabu himself. Outraged, Vexx lunged at the Wraith, but Yabu bound him to a pillar with his dark magic. As he struggled, the Valdar witnessed Yabu binding Reia and taking the Keystaff, which controlled the Landspire's Rift System. Yabu then mocked the warrior before disappearing into the Shadow Realm, leaving both behind. After freeing her, Reia told Vexx that without the Keystaff, the rift will remain open, thus condemning their world to the ShadowWraith. However, she informed him that if he collected more WraithHearts and activated the structures that lie in the three outer worlds, he would be able to follow Yabu and put an end to this. Once the last portal heading to the Shadow Realm was opened, Vexx achieved his revenge, finally destroying Dark Yabu. Upon doing so, the battlefield's structure began collapsing all around the warrior, who ran towards the portal. He couldn't make the jump because the bridge had fallen apart moments before, so in desperation he threw the Keystaff towards the portal, saving Astara but trapping himself. At the end credits, Vexx is seen battling ShadowCreeps atop a remnant of the battlefield. It's not shown in the game whether he survives or not. Trivia *According to a developer interview, Vexx's original name, Jinx, had to be changed due to them running into legal issues with the name. *In the game files, it is revealed that in an early draft of the game's story, Vexx's parents were killed in their sleep by Yabu. *IGN's Hilary Goldstein said he looks like fellow IGN employee Fran Mirabella. Gallery Vexx evolution by MANu1.jpg|5 of Vexx's final concepts and an official render of him. Animationmag pg02.jpg|Magazine article describing Vexx's creation from two shown concepts Vexx sketches by MANu1.jpg|Old concept sketches of Vexx, showing an attacking lunge and three expressions Jinxed1.jpg|Early promotional render of Vexx, who still has the name Jinxed Mod vexx03wire.jpg|Wire-build of Vexx's in-game model Mod vexx02.jpg|Promotional art Mod vexx03.jpg|Promotional art Vexx Pose2.jpg|Promotional art Vexx Pose3.jpg|Promotional art Newvexxart-0.jpg|Promotional art, taken from the now-defunct Vexx website 6a9d6f3d6b3a6e442ec472de31ae994a--video-game-gaming.jpg|Promotional art featuring Vexx with a Grimkin. Vexx_cover1.jpg|Cover art as seen in PAL versions of the game. Vexx talons intro.jpg|Vexx in the intro cutscene, after awakening the Astani War Talons 000579s03.jpg|Vexx in-game outside the Citadel of Shadows Category:Characters